1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hood locks for vehicles and more particularly, provides an improved antitheft vehicle hood lock release blocker assembly which is operable remotely from the interior of the vehicle in which it is installed. The assembly is constructed to effect release of the hood lock for opening the vehicle hood upon predetermined signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vehicle theft prevention systems include components intended to provide protection and warnings against any unauthorized attempts to gain access to the vehicle for the purpose of theft, either of the vehicle or the contents of the interior thereof. Many types of visual and audible alarms are provided which are triggered by breaking windows, tampering with ignition systems or by causing the vehicle to be moved. Frequently used methods of stealing vehicles involve starting of the vehicle either by crossing of the ignition wires or by gaining access to the interior of the engine compartment and manipulating the ignition system therefrom.
Hood locks are customarily provided to assure that the normally spring biased hood will not accidently open during the operation of the vehicle. Such locks conventionally include a latch lever on the hood engaging a catch or keeper located in the interior of the engine compartment. The latch lever is spring biased to be normally engaged with the keeper. A cable is provided for disengaging the latch lever from the keeper. The cable is brought into the front passenger compartment through the firewall and dashboard of the vehicle, terminating in a handle. Manipulation of the handle, such as by pulling thereon, will cause the latch lever to be fully or partially disengaged from its keeper and the hood is either fully released or enabled for release by an operator from exterior of the vehicle. The conventional hood lock and the release apparatus have become a weak link in the chain of protection presently available against theft of the vehicle and/or various operating components located within the engine compartment.
It is desirable that additional precautions should be taken against theft. One precaution would be to prevent release of the hood lock by use of a positive hood lock release assembly, which assembly is operable only from within the passenger compartment, preferably with the use of a restricted distribution key or the like being required to enable the release assembly.